Either Eileen Ruskin did not die on Pollepel Island, or someone has been using her face, identity, and ability to unify the militias in the Pacific Dead Zone alongside Iago Ramirez, Emile Danko, and Joshua Lang. She worked briefly as a security consultant for Yamagato Industries, which served as cover for her other activities in New York City (including an unexplained vendetta against Raytech Industries).

Her current whereabouts are unknown.

portrayed by
Emilia Clarke

Eileen's ability, described as "powerful and multifaceted" in Wolves of Valhalla: The Rise and Fall of Kazimir Volken's Vanguard, allows her to communicate with and through birds. During her time with the Vanguard, Kazimir utilized it to spy on his enemies, gather intelligence in the field, and remotely murder targets without ever having to endanger the lives of his operatives.

The book estimated that, during her later time with the Ferrymen and its Special Activities Division, Eileen was able to command tens of thousands of birds at a time in a combat situation. That number is actually much higher; although capable of commanding hundreds of thousands of birds, she lacks the control or emotional fortitude to do so safely, and it was a flock of this size that led to her downfall on Pollepel Island.

More often, her ability is limited to seeing through one bird's eyes, or hearing through its ears. Eileen can possess a single bird at a time and travel great distances, but doing so leaves her body entirely vulnerable to physical attack and unable to sustain itself. It's safer for her to psychically implant thoughts or memories in a target and use it like a carrier pigeon to deliver messages without ever having to lose consciousness or put herself at risk.

Other SLC-Expressive individuals with psychic-type abilities, especially other telepaths, may be able to sense her presence when in possession of a bird or when in close proximity to birds under Eileen's control. Even those without the genetic marker for Evolved abilities are able to hear her voice or see her image if she directs at them through one of her thralls, making her an example of one of the world's most talented animal telepaths.

There are rumours that she's able to confine another person's consciousness to the body of a bird, but she's only succeeded in doing this once — with mixed results. She has not yet made another attempt.

As with most telepath-type abilities, Eileen is especially prone to overexertion and nosebleeds when commanding large numbers of birds, and can only do so for a limited period of time before either passing out or losing control. Years of practice, however, have built up her defenses and given her a higher-than-average resistance to other psychic attacks, including bodily possession, dream manipulation, and persuasion.

Appendices

Facts

Known to Most

Eileen Ruskin, codename Munin, was a member of Kazimir Volken's Vanguard, but turned against the organization and assisted Phoenix's in Volken's eventual defeat. She also participated in Operation Apollo to fight the Vanguard a second time, where she was deployed to Madagascar and Antartica, in exchange for an official government pardon…

…which was swiftly declared null and void after she joined the Ferrymen, using her knowledge of Volken's tactics to help restructure the organization and place an emphasis on its Special Activities division.

She died in December of 2011 on Pollepel Island, either defending it from Colonel Heller's forces, or shortly after betraying it to Heller's forces, just as she'd betrayed Kazimir Volken years earlier.

Known to Some

After Operation Apollo, Eileen used her influence and charm to swindle Leonardo Maxwell out of several million dollars to help fund the Ferrymen's activities, including the renovation and reconstruction of Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island.

Eileen was an unpopular member of the Ferrymen's Council. Several attempts were made on her life while she served as one of the organization's leaders, including a poisoning by Odessa Price that left her mostly blind for a time.

Eileen's half-brother is Nicholas Ruskin of the CIA. They share a mother, who still resides in London, England.

While working for Vanguard, Eileen's ability functioned as a mobile spying unit. She utilized it in a similar fashion for the Ferrymen's Special Activities division, exacerbating people's distrust in her. It did not help that she carried Kazimir Volken's signature wolf's head cane for a time.

Known to Few

Eileen's biological father is Ethan Holden, who Kazimir Volken arranged to impregnate her mother in an attempt to selectively breed a child with precognitive abilities. Her avian telepathy was not what he'd hoped for, but a useful asset to the Vanguard nonetheless.

She is apparently alive, and has spent at least the last year unifying the scattered militias of the Pacific Northwest Dead Zone under the banner of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (an analogy she detests). However, appearances can be deceiving.

Up until the time of her apparent death, she was in a long term relationship with Gabriel Gray. They have a son from an aborted future, Astor Ruskin-Gray.

Known to Fewer

In current possession of the Black Conduit.

Not actually from this timeline.

Relationships

"When I was a girl, I used to look on Iago Ramirez and the others like they were gods. They were all impossibly large. Bigger, I think, than the physical space they occupied. Planets, each with their own gravitational field. I always enjoyed being in his orbit, even when he didn't notice me. Especially when he didn't notice me. More than a decade later, I saved his life — and now he's saving mine."

"People will tell you that Emile Danko has dead eyes, a snake's eyes, that the blood running through his veins, if he has any blood at all, is cold. What they don't tell you is that he has a sense of humour, or that it's viper-quick. They forget, too, how reptiles need warmth to sustain them. I'd like to be that for him, if he'll let me."

"If you deprive a man of love and respect, if you strip him down to just shitting and eating and sleeping, you shouldn't be surprised when he bites you — because you're the one who turned him into an animal. First, his parents broke their promise to care for him. Then he sought help from the American military, and they did too. I won't."

"…"

"My darling girl. You deserve a much better life than the one we've given you, but you are loved — and you've helped me understand why my dziadzio kept me so close. You have the same effect on Joshua that I had on Ethan, even if the circumstances of how this arrangement came to be are entirely different. I'm so sorry. When you're old enough to understand, I hope you'll be able to forgive me as I eventually forgave him."

"Shepherd is a beam of sunshine on a cloudy day when there should be rain. He's also a little too gregarious for me to trust him the way I do Emile or Iago, but he's a good pilot and has an easy way with other people that makes him valuable. He can always be counted on to do the right thing. That has the potential to become a problem."

"People don't have as much control over who they are as they like to think. Richard is a man of powerful convictions, whose actions are ruled by his desire to be a positive influence on the world around him. We might have even been friends if our philosophies didn't put us in diametric opposition to one another. His ongoing efforts to compile information regarding his mother's Looking Glass project need to be curtailed. Swiftly. No matter the cost."

"There are some abilities that are more dangerous than others, depending on who possesses them and what they will or will not do. Persuasion and telepathy top my list. Thatcher is capable of both, as Davignon was. If I can, I'd like to avoid separating another set of children from their mother, but she's a threat as long as she continues to align herself with Raytech and Richard's interests. I'm hoping another solution will present itself. Soon."

"Leonardo Maxwell. Alister Black. He can change his name but this cat can't change his spots. I'm unsure whether or not Staten Island is better for him being there. Also none of my business, unless he sticks his nose in mine."

"She figured out how Kazimir was able to do it, even if it didn't work out exactly the way she'd hoped. Not strong enough to take a new body, but strong enough to somehow keep herself from being fully assimilated when this one drew her in. I'd put her out of her misery if I didn't think she'd attempt another jump."

"Maxwell's loyal dog. Annoying. And elusive."

"Odessa Price's allegiances shift as quickly as the wind, which seems to have already blown her in just about every direction. She's proven that she's capable of remorse, but not real transformation."

"When something terrible happens to someone you love, helplessness and suffering will cripple you unless you can find a stronger emotion to grab onto. And no other emotion has more forward momentum than anger. I understand you because I am you."

"My grandmother used to terrify me with bedtime stories about monsters whose strength grew every time their names were spoken aloud. I wish she was still alive so Mas could heed her warnings about the Thing That Whispers."

Pending.

Pending.

Pending.

"Kazimir called him Hati. If not kept in check, he'll swallow more than just the moon."